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Taki
Taki (タキ, Taki, also written as 多喜) is a fictional character designed for the Soul series of fighting games, making her debut in the first game of the series, Soul Edge (Soul Blade). She has thus far appeared in all the following games with the exception of Soulcalibur V, in which she was replaced by her student Natsu, who is now searching for her master. She is known as the Hunter of Darkness (闇の狩人 Yami no Garibito) in Soul Blade, the Partial Shadow of Demon Sealing (封魔の朧影 Fuuma no Oborokaze) in Soulcalibur, the Sealed Sword of Godspeed (神速の封刃 Shinsoku no Fuujin) in Soulcalibur III, Soulcalibur IV, and Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, and She Who Seals Off Evil in Soulcalibur: Lost Swords. Taki is the female ninja in the games, and as such is a character known for her agility and speed on both movements and strikes. She is also recognized for her many acrobatic movements, exaggerations of ninjutsu skills, and the use of magic-based unblockable attacks. In the game's universe, according to the Edge Master Mode profile in Soul Blade, Taki is a Japanese orphan raised in the Fu-Ma Ninja clan, under the care of its headmaster, Toki. She is a capable fighter in both unarmed and armed combat, as well as an accomplished demon huntress, spy and blacksmith. What lies in her soul is Honor. Description Ever since Taki's debut in Soul Edge (Blade), she has always been easily recognized by her skin tight bodysuits, tied up hairstyles, and demon protecting armor. Though she has always supported colored tights as a base for her outfits, her armor and hair accessories have been consistently upgraded throughout the entire series. In the first installment of the Soulcalibur franchise, Soul Edge, Taki is wearing a "Japanese demon mask" as well as only being equipped with one sword, Rekki-Maru, as opposed to her carrying both Rekki-Maru and the legendary ninjatō, Mekki-Maru, which she obtained in later games. In Soulcalibur, she looks roughly the same as she did in the previous game though this time her metal face mask was replaced with a thin, crimson red, mouth covering. It was also the only game that Taki's primary outfit revealed her upper breasts.Soulcalibur II was first time that Taki appeared unmasked, and also was the one, and so far only instance were in her 3P outfit, her dark hair is let loose instead of being tied in its signature ponytail. In future installments, Taki was given demon inspired gauntlets, navy blue tights, and added fishnet elements to her primary costumes. The demon huntress's alternate outfits usually consist of tight, stylish robes, headbands, as well as thigh high stockings or boots. History Early Life Taki was orphaned at an early age and was brought up by a ninja master named Toki. She was trained in the ways of the ninja, growing into an expert spy and a great schemer, techniques taught by Toki, whose clan lived in seclusion. Many among this clan had extraordinary abilities that had either been lost or forgotten by the general population. Taki, being blessed with supernatural powers of her own, decided to travel throughout Japan to conquer the evil demons who threatened ordinary people. To aid her in this task, she forged her own weapons with love and care, her favorite of which was a short sword, Rekki-Maru, which also held supernatural powers. During this time of civil war, many military commanders employed ninjas, but, Taki worked for herself. One day, Toki suddenly summoned all of the members of the clan for a meeting - telling the assembled ninjas that Hachibei, a man who had once led the ninja clan with Toki, had stolen the spiritual ninjatō, Mekki-Maru, and had run away with his daughter, Chie. By the clan's law, the two were now nuke-nin, or rogue ninjas. Ninja's were not permitted to leave their clan until they died because of the clan secrets, making the clan responsible for the nuke-nin, and often given the task to terminate them. In accordance with the code, Toki ordered the ninjas to hunt down Hachibei and Chie, kill them, and return the Mekki-Maru. Although this was the normal course of action, something in Toki's eyes made Taki suspicious of her foster father for the first time. Hachibei proved to be a hard man to find, as his skill for remaining hidden had been the finest in the clan. Taki, with her sixth sense and massive intelligence network, eventually found a few leads. Chie had been Taki's childhood friend, and by following a slight trace of Chie, Taki was able to locate Hachibei. The two were running a small stall on a vacant road. An extraordinarily strong man named Li Long was living with them at the time, so Taki waited to confront Hachibei when the old man was out. Hachibei was surprised to see Taki at first, but his face soon filled with relief when she only requested for him to give her the Mekki-Maru. Before doing so, Hachibei revealed to Taki that Toki had been possessed by madness and that the Mekki-Maru had a dangerous control over the ninja lord now. He stated that it was for this reason that he had taken the sword, and left. Soul Edge Even though Taki had her suspicions about Toki, she still found it hard to believe that the dull blade Hachibei held in his hands had extraordinary spiritual powers. The old man explained that if Toki were to come in contact with the Mekki-Maru again, that he would surely kill him. He then gave the magical blade to Taki, warning her of what would happen if it got into her master's hands. Hechibei's trust caused her suspicion of Toki to grow, and so she let he and Chie go free and hid the Mekki-Maru where she was certain no one would find it. When Taki returned to the clan, she fabricated a story about Chie's Chinese lover taking the sword and killing both Chie and Hachibei. When Toki heard this, he grinned and ordered the clan to pursue Li Long and kill him as well. When he gave these orders, Taki realized that Toki was no longer the man she knew. The only explanation was that an outside source was affecting the Mekki-Maru, causing it to resonate with evil and warp her foster father. Hearing rumors of the cursed sword, Soul Edge, Taki felt certain that this was the source of evil and thus set out on journey to find the blade and destroy it. For some time, Taki had noticed that her favorite sword, Rekki-Maru, had been acting strangely. Its once considerable power had weakened. When she had been called in to slay the Fury demons which had been confined in a temple, she was barely able to defeat them and seal the gates back. Though, after the revelations with the Mekki-Maru, Taki was sure that Soul Edge was affecting her own sword as well. Thus, she now had two reasons for going after the legendary blade. Though it took time, Taki eventually tracked Soul Edge to an abandoned port town in Spain. When she arrived at the docks, she came to find a weakened pirate standing over an injured girl. And to Taki's surprise, in his hands was the demonic sword she had been searching for! Before the pirate, Cervantes, could deliver the final strike to the girl below him, Taki called out to challenge him. And thus, a battle like none Taki had ever fought before began. Although she had been improving her armor for years, it was designed for fighting ghosts and lesser demons and began to crack under the strain. Her sealing spells proved useless and Rekki-Maru had nearly lost all of it's power. However, Cervantes' battle with Sophitia had left him severely depleted and Taki eventually struck a fatal blow, causing the mad pirate to shriek in pain and slump to the ground. Even though she was exhausted from the ordeal, Taki still managed to carry the wounded Sophitia away from the harbor. As they left, they heard an immense explosion of evil energy from behind them, which turned out to be the release of the Evil Seed. Once a safe distance away, Taki removed the shards of Soul Edge that had riddled Sophitia's body and treated her wounds. She accompanied Sophitia back to her family, and then left for Japan with the shards of the now destroyed blade. Taki hoped that with the destruction of Soul Edge that the Mekki-Maru had returned to normal and that Toki would be himself again. Soulcalibur When Taki returned home, she unfortunately found that Toki was still under an evil influence and was actually attacked by his assassins. After easily defeating them, she learned that their purpose was to steal the Mekki-Maru, which meant that Toki was aware that she knew of it's whereabouts. Taki quickly went to the spot where she had hidden the sword and took it home so she could keep it away from Toki and his clan.In order to restore her swords' lost power, Taki attempted to bond a shard from the Soul Edge into Rekki-Maru. However, they were resistant to each other and would not join properly. Although, when she tried the same trick on Mekki-Maru, the two were immediately united and began to emit a dark aura. The aura was so dark that even common people could sense it, so Taki closed it in it's sheath and sealed it with magic cards. Mekki-Maru's power still shone through the magical seal, which led more of Toki's assassins right to Taki. She defended herself with her new blade, but she eventually ran out of power and was captured by Geki, Toki's right-hand man and highest ranking ninja. Exhausted from the relentless battle, Taki could do nothing as Geki took Mekki-Maru and claimed it in the name of Toki. Taki warned Geki not to undo the seal, but it was too late and his entire right arm was blown off by the shock wave that was released. Taki seized the moment, took the sword, and ran past Geki's stunned assistants Gaki and Doki. Thus, Taki became a nuke-nin like Hachibei. Soulcalibur II Toki's assassins were powerful, and Geki, who wanted revenge for the loss of his arm, was the most dangerous of them all. Taki was able to drive their attacks back, but she knew that she could not hold out forever. Taki was bewildered as to why there was still an evil influence affecting Toki. Even Rekki-Maru was still powerless. It was then that she remembered that Sophitia had only destroyed one of the evil swords called Soul Edge. Rumors reached her of a berserk knight that was ravaging Europe with an evil sword, and Taki was sure that the sword must be the remaining part of Soul Edge. Taki devised a plan to track down this Nightmare and pit the Soul Edge and Mekki-Maru together with the hopes of destroying both evil powers. However, her trip was delayed when the powerful ghost, Gel-o-Fury, gained enough power from the Evil Seed to break Taki's seals in the bamboo forest, where she had trapped him. After he escaped, he headed toward the Hoko-ji Temple in Kyoto, a great temple of madness that was constructed by warped ideals that would be the ghost's final battleground. Taki used Mekki-Maru to defeat the Fury demon, and decided to share her fate with Mekki-Maru as she searched for Soul Edge. During her time of using the legendary ninjatō, Taki realized that Mekki-Maru was a tremendous yet dangerous weapon, she just wished that there was some way to control it. Soulcalibur III In Soulcalibur III, a clan that opposed Toki revealed to Taki that he was located in the capital of the Hoko Temple. After given this information, Taki found and faced off against Toki in the Buddhist shrine.Although it was fierce battle, Taki was given the ironic advantage of the Fu-Ma techniques that Toki himself had taught her. She also had the Mekki- Maru, the sword that her former master sought after.In the end, Taki was able to defeat Toki, but as she stepped forward, preparing to put an end to Toki, he weakly called out "Taki... is that you? It's very dark..." The female ninja was caught of guard. She didn't see any insanity in him when he said these words. She opened her mouth to call out her master's name, but suddenly, his eyes widened and an evil entity came out of his mouth and disappeared. Taki had no doubt that Toki was now heading for Soul Edge. She knew that she had to find evil blade and destroy it before Toki did, and since the evil sword was temporarily weakened - it could easily be found. Soulcalibur IV Taki came to the Lost Cathedral, and witnessed the battle between Siegfried, who had Soul Calibur, and Nightmare, who had Soul Edge. She expected the two swords to destroy each other, but the opposite happened. They unleashed a powerful cataclysm, which obliterated the cathedral. Taki barely escaped herself. Even though the cathedral was demolished, Taki knew that the soul swords had survived, and it was most likely that they would clash with each other again. It was then that Taki learned that Soul Edge was in Ostrheinsburg, and that Siegfried was heading there with Soul Calibur. Taki wondered if this man had the will to control the spirit sword's power. Not wanting chance to decide this question, she hurried to do what must be done. Soulcalibur V Having thoroughly studied both the forging techniques of the blacksmith group and the demon-sealing techniques of the sealing group, Taki was the sole member of the Fu-Ma clan to be a veteran in both areas. After Soul Edge was destroyed, Taki supported and raised a young girl who was a member of the demon-fighting Fu-Ma clan, Natsu. Natsu had the great demon, Arahabaki, sealed within her and was often shunned by her fellow ninjas. Taki protected and trained Natsu to become a ninja like herself, and even though Natsu rebelled against the clan's rules, she never questioned Taki. She supports her apprentice Natsu with her entire being, and has protected her from several crises. While she carries the burden of being responsible for the misfortune that befell Natsu's life, she is determined to do what must be done in the case that Natsu would turn into a demon. Though neither Natsu's appearance or behaviour are of any special concern, the treatment she presents in her decorations appear to be worrying. Before the events of Soulcalibur V, Taki had heard rumors about the appearance of Toki, who she was certain was dead. She left on a journey to the west, telling her disciple that she would be gone no longer than two weeks. However, she has not returned since... Personality As a ninja, Taki puts her mission above everything else. She will end evil through her own ways. She seems to show concern to some people who are connected with Soul Edge (i.e. Sophitia) and warns them the dangers of the evil blade. She can be emotionless and serious, as a ninja should be. She easily sees through deceptions and will use the best attack to defeat her opponent. Taki truly cares for her apprentice, Natsu, having chosen to take an active part in raising her due to her own perceived failure in stopping Arahabaki in time. However, she has mentally prepared herself to 'do what's necessary' if the seal containing the demon within Natsu were ever broken. Fighting Style Being a ninjutsu practitioner, Taki is well-known for having unpredictable and deceptive strikes. She has several acrobatic movements, tech traps, as well quick and unique kick attacks; making her quite difficult to defend against. As one of the fastest characters in the series, she can easily evade and counterattack the opponent in various ways through either somersaulting, rolling, or even teleporting up in the air. Taki's kicks are very useful and damaging - for many of which have the potential to ring an opponent out. Also, her kicks, combined with the dual kodachi, make an excellent combination for combos just as long as the player knows how to execute them properly. Her low attacks also have their advantages, for she even has the ability to drop a numerous amount of darts while the opponent is down. Her throws can deal low to high damage and sometimes can be used in combos; even her aerial throws are something to watch out for. Her unblockable attacks are not difficult to dodge, however, there are numerous ways to use them in combos or set them up in tech traps, dealing an impressive amount of damage. When using Taki, the player must be careful when it comes to range, as it is Taki's weakness. When fighting at a distance, jumping closer to the opponent is risky as it leaves her open for attack, definitely making her a close-ranged fighter. Taki has been very iconic to the Soul series ever since it debuted. Many gamers are impressed with her fighting style as she is relatively easy to use. Taki is regarded as a high tier character, for she performs well in the tournaments and is among one of the best choices for players of all skill levels whether they are a beginner or a Soulcalibur veteran. 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